Kilmar Abrego Garcia Could Be Sent to Uganda After ICE Official Arrested Him Again in Baltimore

In March 2025, Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia was illegally deported by the Trump administration, who later called it an administrative error, per the Associated Press. Despite admitting to making this mistake, the president refused to return Garcia to Maryland, claiming he had ties to the MS-13 gang.

Garcia was sent to the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) in El Salvador, which is known for its abusive treatment of prisoners. Three months after he was sent to CECOT, Garcia was transferred to a prison in Tennessee after being accused of unlawfully transporting immigrants for financial gain. He was then released and returned to Maryland in August 2025, only to be detained by ICE agents again. What did he allegedly do? Here's what we know.

According to ABC News, Garcia was checking in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement at its office in Baltimore on Aug. 25 when agents detained him immediately upon arrival. Garcia's attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, told the outlet that when he asked ICE officials what his client had done, he got no answer. They also wouldn't tell Sandoval-Moshenberg which detention center Garcia had been taken to.

Three days after, Garcia was moved from a prison in Tennessee to Maryland. "We asked the ICE officer for a copy of any paperwork that's being served on him today, the ICE officer wouldn't commit to even giving us that paperwork," said Sandoval-Moshenberg. Garcia previously rejected a plea deal that involved him being deported to Costa Rica if he agreed to plead guilty to human smuggling charges.

Less than 24 hours after Garcia was released in Tennessee, ICE officials told his lawyers that there is a chance he could be deported to Uganda. In response to this, Garcia's attorneys filed a habeas lawsuit accusing the federal government of trying to force their client to accept a guilty plea deal or face deportation to East Africa.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis previously ordered Garcia to be placed under ICE supervision in Maryland while awaiting trial if he was released from prison in Tennessee. Garcia was living in Maryland with his wife and children when he was taken into custody in March. Judge Xinis said this would "provide the kind of effective relief to which a wrongfully removed alien is entitled upon return."

In their filing, Garcia's lawyers accused the federal government of threatening their client with deportation to Uganda. "Respondents are seeking to remove Petitioner to Uganda — a process which they know will trigger lengthy legal proceedings — rather than Costa Rica — the country for removal designated by Petitioner that offered him resettlement — in order to punish him for his constitutionally protected activity," per the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also requests the court block ICE from sending Garcia to a detention center more than 200 miles from the courthouse in Baltimore, where he was taken into custody. Garcia's lawyers also asked the court to stop the federal government from deporting their client to Uganda before attempting to remove him to Costa Rica.